Empty Sea StudiosSeattle's Home for Acoustic Music2015-03-23T07:38:07Zhttp://www.emptysea.com/feed/atom/WordPressdcharettehttp://www.emptysea.comhttp://www.emptysea.com/?p=55182015-02-08T22:42:39Z2015-03-15T04:00:10ZTickets: Available through KickStarter.Click here to support Debbie’s KickStarter.
Tickets to the live album recording can be obtained through certain KickStarter pledges.

Please join us for a live album recording with Debbie Miller, Julia Massey, and Gabriel Wolfchild, live at Empty Sea!

We're webcasting this show live on The Roots Channel. Click the logo to learn more.

“Watching her perform live, Miller has an uncanny ability to keep an audience smiling the entire night – A direct reflection of her humbled stage presence and endearing personality. She’s about as real as they get when it comes to musicians in Seattle.“ – City Arts Magazine

Seattle-based singer/songwriter Debbie Miller will tug at your heart, cause you giggle, and make you think twice about crossing her – Sometimes all during the same song. Blending humor with heart-wrenching honesty, Miller’s refreshing brand of unique lyrics and playful melodies capture and delight audiences from east to west. Her music has garnered media attention from local and national press including City Arts Magazine, AOL Music, Seattle Weekly, SSG Music, PureVolume, CDBaby, and more.

Miller, a New York native and classically trained pianist who studied under a Julliard alumna for ten years, began her career in the Brooklyn and East Village music scenes in 2008. With song topics ranging from love to bathroom graffiti, Miller’s music oscillates flawlessly between folk-ish tunes on guitar and pounding numbers on the piano.

After moving cross-country to Seattle in 2010, Miller immersed herself in the legendary music scene and has been quickly embraced by West Coast audiences. With quirky lyrics that teeter between honesty, seriousness and silliness, Miller has developed a reputation for her unique live shows, which are often highlighted by her propensity for error. “I always mess up somehow in a live show. Whether I forget the words, screw up the music, or fall off the stage — true story.” These “Debbie Do-overs” have become fan favorites. “I think it’s because people respond to authenticity and honesty in art and performance,” she said. As a result, Miller plans to record a live album at Empty Sea Studios to capture the experience of her performance.

Please join us for an evening with Kathryn Claire and The Dream Band featuring Allen Hunter, Zak Borden, Don Henson and Ara Lee – Live at Empty Sea!

We're webcasting this show live on The Roots Channel. Click the logo to learn more.

For over 10 years, Kathryn Claire has been a force in the celtic and folk music scenes in the Pacific Northwest. Her diverse musical career has spanned a wide range of genres and she has been an integral part of many music projects. From her early days with Eugene-based Irish/punk pub band, Toad in the Hole, to co-founding and fronting Portland based all-star band Circled by Hounds with Matthew Hayward-Macdonald, to her extensive and award-winning collaboration with Hanz Araki from 2010-2013, Kathryn Claire has continually been evolving as a singer, guitarist and fiddle player. Her deep love and respect for traditional music has long been a driving influence, and those roots are evident in her music.

Kathryn has released 4 solo albums of original music over the past 10 years, and is completely at home both the roll of front person or side person. Her charismatic presence and infectious smile have made her a favorite at venues and festivals around the world. She has toured and performed extensively in the US, Japan, India, Holland, Belgium and France.

Over the past year, Kathryn has been honing a unique sound that draws from her diverse musical background. The sound is energized, inspired and eclectic, yet there is a distinctive sound that is her own.

In March, 2014, Kathryn released her most recent album Shimmering Blue, a collection of cover songs, and toured with a band which she fondly calls The Dream Band, comprised of Allen Hunter on bass, Zak Borden on mandolin, Don Henson on percussion and piano, and Ara Lee on vocals.

“There is something magic that happens when the five of us play together. There is a deep and abiding sense of respect that is shared between us, and our diverse backgrounds complement each other beautifully, making for a fresh sound.” – Kathryn Claire

Zak Borden has put down roots in many musical disciplines. In his late teens, he fell in love with bluegrass music. As it does for so many, that fertile American hybrid introduced him to a world of other styles: from the country soul of The Band to the lilting traditions of Ireland; from modern string band takes on Thelonious Monk to the syncopated rhythms of Brazil. However, as a performer and educator he soon came to find that it was really just passionate, well-played and interesting music that he loves; Music that connects and tells a story. Zak’s shows employ nimble picking on guitar or mandolin and a deep baritone voice that leaps easily into a clear, high tenor.

Don Henson‘s band, Sneakin Out, has played various stages with Pink Martini, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and also has opened for K.D. Lang and graced the stage of Carnegie Hall.

Allen Hunter has been playing live and recording with Portland area songwriters and bands for the past 20 years and has been touring internationally for the past 10 years with LA-based band, Eels. He has also recorded with the Eels on Vagrant Records, Michael Dean Damron & Thee Loyal Bastards on Rosa Records, Black Angel, James Low, Alan Charing, The Vibrasonics, and Jim Mesi to name a few.

With an upbringing split between the hills of Appalachia and the heart of New York City, Ara Lee’s dichotomous childhood made for a unique musical education. Ara cut her teeth fiddling and singing in the folk and gospel traditions of Tennessee, and then lived a second life in New York as an R&B and blues soloist, studio and commercial vocalist, and back-up singer. In her current incarnation as a singer-songwriter based in Portland, Ara’s powerful, soul-infused vocals combined with the simplicity of acoustic folk create a style uniquely her own—one that has been perhaps best described as “Soul-folk-tribal-funk-heathen-gospel butter.”

We're webcasting this show live on The Roots Channel. Click the logo to learn more.

The Fretless is a new approach to folk music that is quickly gaining high acclaim around the world. This unique band is taking string music to fascinating places as it transforms fiddle tunes and folk melodies into intricate, beautiful, high-energy arrangements.

In November 2011, Karrnnel Sawitsky (Fiddle), Ivonne Hernandez (Fiddle), Eric Wright (Cello) and Trent Freeman (Fiddle) got together for the first time on Vancouver Island to start rehearsing this project. After 10 days straight of writing, arranging, practicing and an absurd amount of tea, The Fretless emerged as a band.

With the release of their debut album Waterbound in early 2012, (which features their fresh styles, compositions, as well as collaborations with singers Ruth Moody and Norah Rendell), the quartet grabbed the attention of critics and fans across many genres. This recording fueled a busy summer of festivals across Canada, a month long tour of Germany, and world wide sales and radio play. The year was capped with 3 awards, bringing the album, and the band further into the public eye; Instrumental Album of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards, and at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, the Fretless walked away with both Ensemble of the Year, and Instrumental Group of the Year.

Now, with their brand new self-titled album, which has already won a Western Canadian Music Award and a CFMA for Ensemble of the Year, The Fretless are pushing themselves and their instruments further still. This album is a true demonstration of a band is gaining momentum and breaking new ground.

The Fretless is an innovation in music that must be heard. They harbor all the energy of fiddle tunes, while shattering all expectations in writing, creativity and performance.

Please join us for an evening with Stumptown Swing, live at Empty Sea!

We're webcasting this show live on The Roots Channel. Click the logo to learn more.

Stumptown Swing takes audiences back to 1920′s Paris, when gypsies with guitars, violins and upright basses made the leap from French musette to American “hot jazz” and kept Parisians dancing to this evocative new sound.

Tim Connell (mandolin) and Mike Burdette (guitar) of Rio Con Brio formed the group after nearly a decade of playing swing gigs with Portland’s best acoustic musicians. They snapped up the hottest upright bass player in town, Keith Brush (Stolen Sweets, Pete Krebs Trio, Blue Cranes) and are proud to feature their long-time friend and collaborator, the absolutely pyrotechnic violinist, Ben Blechman.

Stumptown Swing is a set of hot, cool and sultry classics, featuring swinging groove and gorgeous acoustic instruments played with intelligence and passion by four masters of their craft.

Please join us for an evening with The Long Memory, live at Empty Sea!

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As the son of Bruce, “Utah” Phillips, Duncan Phillips began traveling on the road with his father in the winter of 2000. Utah referred to Duncan as his “road manager,” but Duncan jokes that everyone knows his father couldn’t be managed. Bruce always had the dream of playing on stage together with his son, but as a kid, Duncan could never reconcile that in learning to play the guitar, he would be learning one of the very things that kept him separated from his father for so many years. Duncan performed on stage just shortly after his dad’s death in 2008. Along with Utah’s old road-worn Guild guitar, Duncan inherited the songs and stories of the people and places that his father wrote about over his forty plus years of wandering the country. In Duncan’s own words: “Well, even though he may be gone, every time I’m on the stage, he is there with me and this my story, so far…oh yeah, I do live in Utah.”

Kat Eggleston is one of the most accomplished guitarists and singer/songwriters in the folk, Celtic and traditional music genres. Elating, moving, and amusing audiences with her beautiful blend of sweet melodies, gentle honesty and searing humor, Kat’s music reflects a wide range of life’s experiences with unusual clarity and authority. In a clear alto with flawless intonation, Kat Eggleston goes straight to the lyrical and emotional truth of every word and every note. Her musings on home, childhood, and her father’s garden are gems of direct, unassuming plainspokenness. Her narratives push hard at our senses and demand we return again and again to pick up the pieces we dropped on first hearing, expanding our comprehension of difficult, personal and universal experience.

California banjo sweetheart Erin Inglish is an incredibly unique female songwriter. Like the late John Hartford, she is a solo act with a voice, a banjo, some body percussion, and poignant songs. This internationally-touring, banjo-wielding woman presents a “raw, sweet and sincere Emmy Lou-ish sound…[and] she makes the banjo sound like a musical instrument” (fan, North Carolina). From the thoughtful and conscientious messages in her songwriting, to her magnetic and entertaining stage-presence, Erin is a consummate performer and humanistic storyteller.

Please join us for an evening of eclectic, biting, original works from Briga & Guests, live at Empty Sea!

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Briga is the daughter of a Polish father, and a Québecois mother. Born in Québec and raised in western Canada before her return to Montréal, Briga’s music is a reflection of her fragmented identity: a hybrid of songs written in French & English, accompanied by her fervent violin firmly rooted in eastern European & Romani Folk sounds learned from the days her father played the piano to put the children to sleep.

Previously nominated for honors from the Canadian Folk Music Awards & Québec’s ADISQ Awards, Briga was recently awarded the Galaxie Rising Star Award. Turbo Folk Stories (2012) came to us after her touring through the Balkans playing Romani (Gypsy) weddings with Bulgaria’s no.1 Violinist, Georgi Yanev. Wake (2014), is a concept album exploring her father’s mysterious Polish/Jewish roots, holding true to her Turbo Folk sound: wrapped up with some heavy Balkan & Moroccan grooves, and polished up with Judeo-Arabic strings.

Please join us for An Evening of American Primitive Guitar, live at Empty Sea!

A 30+-year devotee of the so-called “American Primitive” school of acoustic steel string guitarists, Glenn Jones has been playing guitar since the age of 14. He formed Boston pysch-rock band, Cul de Sac, in 1989 and led it on its 20 year journey leaving nine albums in its wake, including collaborations with guitarist John Fahey and Can’s Damo Suzuki. Jones’ latest album, My Garden State (Thrill Jockey) has garnered the best reviews of his career, and made NPR’s “Best Albums of 2013″ list. The Wanting was released as a single CD and double LP in 2011 on the Thrill Jockey label, and it made several year-end “best of” lists.

Ralph Johnston is a gem of a guitarist who hails from Vancouver, BC. He went by the alias of Ragtime Ralph in the late 1970’s and early 80’s, and he has shared the stage with a number of acoustic luminaries such as Leo Kottke, John Fahey, and Robbie Basho to name a few. He has been on a creative spree since 2008 and has released 8 albums on his own independent label, Empty Square records. Influenced by the early sounds of pre-war blues music, you will hear echoes of Mississippi John Hurt blended with Charlie Patton all the while making a unique sound all of his own.

Ryan Leaf was born and raised in Spokane, WA and currently resides in Maple Valley, WA. He has laid the groundwork for his first album, Mental Landmarks, which will hopefully arrive by the summer of 2015. Working in record stores at an early age exposed him to a myriad of sounds that might otherwise have evaded him. Always seeking the source, his musical journey has led him to the early sounds of acoustic blues pioneers, which in turn, led him back to the ringing sounds of American Primitive guitarist, John Fahey.

We're webcasting this show live on The Roots Channel. Click the logo to learn more.

Maracujá (maracujamusic.org) plays a wide variety of Latin American music from upbeat sambas and wild party sones and cumbias, to wistful bossa novas and plaintive boleros. It is music for dancing and and music for listening. Formed in 2013, Maracujá consists of Terrence Rosnagle (guitar), Caitlin Belem (voice, saxophone, guitar), and Sam Esecson (percussion).

Caitlin Belem (www.caitlinbelem.com) grew up in a house full of music in Northern Wyoming. She fell in love with the fiddle at a young age and and continued to learn, playing saxophone, guitar and singing through private lessons, school groups and with her parents. Since, she has explored many genres from Brazilian bossa nova and samba, to Cuban son, to American jazz, blues, and swing. After high school, she moved to Brazil and studied Brazilian culture, music, and Capoeira Angola. She returned multiple times to Brazil and also had the good fortune to visit Cuba for prolonged periods. She went to study music and culture through the Portland based organization, CubaAyuda, and through a grant from Oberlin College. Aside from performing with Maracujá, Caitlin sings and plays with the band At Five and various other local and traveling musicians. Caitlin also works organizing music festivals and other events with the Centrum Foundation, Union Cultural Center (FICA), and Northwest Folklife.

Terrence Rosnagle (www.terrencerosnagle.com) was born in Pasadena, California and raised in the Los Angeles area – but as an adult he became a musical gypsy who has traveled to the ends of the earth to learn, play, and perform different World Musics. Terrence was initially self taught and inspired by Delta Blues and Rock and Roll guitarist such as Robert Johnson, Son House, and Jimi Hendrix. Later, his interests switched to the sound of the Spanish guitar and World Music. He went on to study Flamenco guitar with private teachers in Spain such as Jose Ignacio Franco and El Carbonero in Jerez de la Frontera and through the Conservatory de Licieu in Barcelona, Spain. He has studied Classical and South American guitar with the Chilean maestro Eulogio Davalos in Barcelona and Brazilian guitar styles with Steve Erquiaga at the Jazz School in Berkeley, California. Terrence has lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina studying Folkloric guitar styles and in Istanbul, Turkey where he studied ud and Turkish Classical Music. A diverse player, he has performed solo and in duos, trios, and groups playing musical styles ranging from Cuban Son to Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova – Spanish Classical and Flamenco to Argentinian Zambas and Milongas – Delta Blues to Rock and Roll. Terrence has performed professionally in the United States, Spain, and Turkey.

Sam Esecson (www.samesecson.com) grew up in Southern California and began studying drum set when he was eight years old. He made his move to the Pacific Northwest after high school to attend the University of Puget Sound and be near Seattle’s vibrant music scene. At first exposure, Sam became enamored with Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music and, after graduating, traveled to Brazil twice to study percussion and soak in the culture. Sam has performed with dozens of bands, touring extensively throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, and most Western European countries. Some of these bands include The Paperboys, Polyrhythmics, Cordaviva, Locarno, Vicci Martinez, Si Limon, Eli Rosenblatt, Michel Navedo and Brazil Novo, Eduardo Mendonça, EntreMundos Band, and Maracujá. Sam also teaches private drum and percussion lessons in Seattle and on the Eastside.

Please join us for an evening with Andrew Norsworthy, Jared Woods, and Patrick Porter live at Empty Sea!

Andrew Norsworthy (www.andrewnorsworthy.com)
Born and raised in Anchorage, AK, and now rooted in Seattle, Andrew Norsworthy has written, recorded, and performed music for more than 20 years. Traveling across the US extensively, and playing in Europe as well, he has had the opportunity to share stages with terrific artists, such as Kelly Joe Phelps, Josh Rouse, Dan Bern, Michelle Malone, Patrick Sweany, Tim Easton, Sarah Lee Guthrie, among others. His most recent release is 2012’s blues-soaked The Key & The Cross, described by the Seattle Weekly as a showcase for “badass guitar playing” and an “equally strong voice”.

Jared Woods (www.reverbnation.com/jaredwoods)
Whether you’ve enjoyed live music in Anchorage your whole life, or you’re a visiting artist looking to hear some tunes before a short stint under the midnight sun, you can’t help but stop to appreciate Jared Woods for a moment. He is the type of talent that Alaskans would proudly show off to friends in the rest of the US, but would first consider hoarding for themselves. Anchorage fans often name him and his band (Woodrow) the town’s best in listeners’ choice competitions.

This show is a chance for an Alaskan musician, long established in Seattle (Andrew Norsworthy), to introduce his audience to an old friend and musical collaborator, Jared Woods. Andrew and Jared toured the country several times over as a duo years ago, recording tracks for Norsworthy’s solo LP Horizon City along the way. This performance will be Jared Woods’ solo debut in Seattle. Also on hand will be longtime Norsworthy associate Patrick Porter (of local band Explone) helping out on guitar. For fans of any of these musicians, expect some special performances and a room full of warm vibes.

Please join us for an evening with Mickelson & Coyle w/ Wild Rabbit, live at Empty Sea!

In 2013, San Francisco artist Scott Mickelson celebrated the release of more than five full-length records with his band Fat Opie. His narrative writing style continues to paint both musical and lyrical portraits of contemporary life as an American. Successes include the song Bullets in My Briefcase, which won a national band search sponsored by 7UP/(MTV). This included a prize of $15,000. He has also appeared on NPR and a CBS Morning Show. When not touring he is producing other artists from his recording studio in Northern, CA. His debut solo full-length Flickering will be released early 2015.

Dan Coyle has been touring and making music since 2008. His latest output, a 6-song EP entitled Perfect Word. Perfect Beat. is an especially dynamic record, at once both delicate and exuberant. Dan has performed in major festivals such as The Folk Alliance and has appeared on NBC Live, The ABC Morning Show, and Balcony TV (Germany). Dan has played countless shows across the United States and Canada, including a year-long stretch of performances throughout Europe in 2011. He averages 100 live performances per year, leaving a trail of delighted fans in his wake. He lives in New York City.

Combining each member’s unique influences ranging from Beethoven to Beirut, blending three distinct vocal styles, and adding copious amounts of foot-stomping, Wild Rabbit (formerly Br’er Rabbit) has discovered a sound and a presence that’s at once original and familiar, appealing to audiences of all generations & genres. After a breakthrough performance at the 2013 Northwest Folklife Festival, garnering press in noted indie roots publication No Depression and in the Seattle Times, the band made a prominent name for itself in the Northwest and has been quickly picking up momentum since then, opening for popular indie bands like Paper Bird, Ha Ha Tonka, Shook Twins, and The Family Crest.